Friday, January 07, 2000
Mayor maps out 'rebirth' plan
But schools will hinder it, he says
BY MARIE McCAIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken acknowledged Thursday that the state of the city's public schools will hinder his “rebirth” plans for Cincinnati.
“In terms of attracting people ... let's not kid ourselves, it is not doing what it needs to do,” the mayor said of the Cincinnati Public Schools system.
But, he added, the city is “participating directly in the ... rebuilding of the schools” and has agreed to help rebuild the district's physical plant.
The comments came during Mr. Luken's first State of the City address since becoming mayor last month. He started the practice in 1984 during his first tenure as Cincinnati mayor.
“I'd want to go to another school system, myself,” he said during a question-and-answer session after his speech to the Rotary Club at the Omni Netherland Plaza Hotel. “But I think the superintendent (Steven Adamowski) is heading in the right direction with his use of charter schools.”
He said the growth of charter schools will make the public school system take a look at itself.
Mr. Luken also said he hopes to do away with the “exploding bureacracy” of past city governments that “got in the way of itself” and fostered fiascos such as overstating how many city streets were repaired.
The debacle was recently discovered in an internal audit.
“I'm embarrassed about what has happened,” the mayor said, adding that the public was “sold” a deal.
“You give us money and we'll do the job,” Mr. Luken said. “You gave us the money and we didn't do the job.”
The inclusion of private engineering firms who will work in conjunction with city departments to complete repair jobs is one way of preventing such incidents from happening again, he said.
Mr. Luken also reiterated his hopes of restoring public interest in Cincinnati through economic development of neighborhoods such as Over-the-Rhine, Mount Auburn and the East End.
He added that he hopes to reduce property taxes as a further incentive for people to return to Cincinnati.
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